Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

You know the Liberal Party's in complete disarray when I, the lady who wears the red jacket, receive in my inbox the unofficial newsletter of the members of the Victorian Liberal Party's summary of the state election. What does it say? It has, for example, 'Victorians just don't like, trust and respect Matthew Guy.' That's not a surprise to anybody who was actually engaged on election day or anybody who was actually listening to what was going on.

It's rare that I actually stand in this place and say that I agree with the member for Higgins, but I agree with her comments that have been reported that the Liberal Party are simply anti women, homophobic and climate change deniers. That's exactly what we saw in the state election. People voted in numbers to say that this Liberal government are out of touch, that they are mean, tricky and not engaged with voters. That is why Liberals, their own people, were not turning up to hand out how-to-votes on state election day.

We on this side of the House are not taking anything for granted because we respect the Australian voters and we listen to the Australian people. People want a government that supports women, that doesn't see them quit and move to the crossbench because they are not addressing the cultural behaviour in their own organisation. People want a government that acknowledges and acts on climate change. And people want a government that is truly embracing of our LGBTI community. (Time expired)

See this speech in context